Taiwan Premier Names Female Minister

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Taiwan's new premier rounded out his reshuffled Cabinet on Thursday, appointing China Airlines president Christine Tsung as economics minister _ the first female to hold the job.

The key post of finance minister was filled by Lee Yung-san, chairman of the International Commercial Bank of China _ one of the top 10 banks in Taiwan.

The Cabinet and Premier Yu Shyi-kun will be under intense pressure to pull Taiwan's economy out of its first recession in decades. Whether they can do that could determine whether President Chen Shui-bian is re-elected in 2004.

"Economic development is Taiwan's lifeline for survival," the premier told reporters before introducing the new ministers.

The Cabinet reshuffle began this week as the president named Yu, a top aide, to be the premier while seeking a fresh team to face the new legislature. The new premier then named new ministers to the Cabinet.

After elections last month, the president's Democratic Progressive Party emerged as the largest party in the legislature for the first time in Taiwanese history, but the DPP still lacks a clear majority.

Tsung replaced Lin Hsin-i, who has been named vice premier. The daughter of an air force pilot, she was appointed 18 months ago to head the island's biggest carrier, China Airlines.

Tsung has been credited with helping the airline earn a profit in 2001, despite a downturn in the industry.

The 53-year-old Tsung, who has an MBA from the University of Missouri, has little experience running a large government department. While she lived in America for nearly three decades, she served as the finance director for the small southern California city of Poway, near San Diego.